Four Thirds to a Whole
by BlackPheonix666
Summary: Corey is confused. She's been stuck in a hotel for apparently 24 years. Phoenix is scared. She overheard the white-coats talking about a book that can kill people. Katrina is angry. An organization ruined her life, and she can't do anything about it. And Teah is guilty. She ran away for a little adventure, leaving her friends behind. And now the four girls are off to the U.K.


Nico kicked the rock as hard as he possibly could. He hated that Teah was being so stubborn. She wouldn't even come to look at camp. At EITHER camp, where she could live a comfortable life away from the ragtaggedness of the Manhattan city streets. But she insisted that there was something keeping her there, something she couldn't put a name to, much less understand.

He was so focused on hating Teah's unchangeable personality that he didn't even realize that the space beside him was glowing like the sun had come down to earth, which it had, if you decide to be philosophical, or, of course, if you were a demigod.

A, in the opinion of pretty much the whole female populous of the world, gorgeous guy walked out of thin air. He had solid sunlight on his head, and the cornflower blue of his eyes reflects the pure country sky. But this isn't why Nico bowed at this moment in time, because Nico isn't gay. He bowed because this is Apollo.

Apollo's grin lacked some of its cockiness, and the blinding white of his teeth seemed less blinding as he greeted Nico.

"Not to be rude, Lord Apollo, but why are you here?" Nico asked, curious, and maybe a tad suspicious, too.

"I got a task for you," Apollo flinched, hearing himself speak those words, "Do you accept?"

Now Nico was really suspicious. Apollo had never given him a quest before. He'd always go to his kids, or the Hermes kids. But he was also curious.

"What would that be?" Nico fiddled with his sword hilt nervously.

"It's kind of a long story," Apollo summoned a chair, "You'd better sit down."

**~TILDES! YAY! THEY ARE SO COOL! ~**

Teah resisted the urge to smile. It amused her highly when Nico stormed out. He always got slightly red in the face and put his sword hilt in a death grip. He reminded her of when she was six and would try to throw a temper tantrum. She didn't understand the concept, so she just sat in the corner and pouted.

Teah was better at laughing then she was at brooding. Nico was the other way around. He was only twelve, but he already acted responsible for her, like he was twenty and she was five. It was one of the odd ways he showed he cared. Just like nearly dragging her to camp.

Teah shook her head to clear it, and was distracted when Major came in. Major was the founder of their group, and a good friend to Teah. He was older than her by three years (she was eleven and he was fourteen) But just like Nico he acted so much older.

He actually acted so much like Nico it was hard for Teah to understand why they didn't get along. Aside from physical appearance (which actually wasn't that different) they pretty much were the same. Both Nico and Major's eyes held a deep wound, like a crevasse had been opened up into their souls and something that granted them happiness was taken out, the same fierce protectiveness and balance of Leader ship and willingness to follow, like the sky was dropped onto their shoulders and they wanted nothing more than to hand it off. They even had the same annoying protectiveness of Teah which irritated her so bad she wanted to stab them through with her Kopis.

Putting all thoughts of Nico and his temper tantrums aside, Teah stood up and saluted Major.

"Why do you do that?" He asked, putting his hand on his forehead and shaking his head, "You know I hate it."

"It's fun to see you get ticked off," Teah answered honestly, "What's up?"

"Eh, Nothing much. Is Death Boy gone yet?" Major replied.

"Yes," Teah sighed, feeling a rush of irritation at Major, "And why do you hate Nico so much?"

"Why do you like him so much?" Major shot back.

"If it weren't for him, I'd be dead," Teah crossed her arms and looked Major right in his eyes. The orangish brown was so different from Nico's black, and Teah wondered what it would be like to be able to see what was going on in their heads from their bright irises.

"If it weren't for ME you'd be dead,"

"If it weren't for Nico I never would have met you,"

"He's so… so… SHADY! And he's always trying to get you to leave!"

"And I won't leave, Major."

Teah saw Major look at her with his now seemingly steel eyes. But Teah had known him too long. The way he sucked his lower lip into his mouth gave him away. He was worried about something; most likely about Teah.

"You'd better not leave," The strength in his voice was like Plexiglas. There, but entirely see-through, "I need you here. You know Mercy would have a fit if you left. So would Chug and Fun size."

"Oh please," Teah waved her hand dismissively, "I'm so amazing, everybody would miss me."

"Yeah," Major nodded slowly, sarcastically, a totally unconvincing bobbing motion whose insincerity was given away by the smirk tugging at his lips, "You're like a celebrity or something."

"Or something? Baby, I'm the hottest thing out there," Teah struck a pose.

Major was full out grinning now. He ruffled her caramel hair. It always stuck up like the puff of a wishing dandelion, but when Major ran his hand through it, it looked like a cyclone had blown through.

Major mimed snapping photos as Teah feigned a Kim Kardashian kissy face. But like all good things, it had to come to an end.

The sound was as high and piercing as nails on a chalk board, but even more piercing to Teah's heart. She grabbed her Regal Silver Kopis and dashed out of her corner of the alley way. The thin brick hall echoed with Teah's pounding footsteps as she sprinted out of her thinking place.

She didn't pause for the alarmed hobo, she didn't pause for Butter-nut, the smart*** cat she had adopted. She leapt like a gazelle over boxes and dodged around dumpsters, hyper aware of Major's footsteps behind her, pounding the trash littered concrete ground with force like a hurricane.

Teah stopped abruptly, and then sighed, then facepalmed, because Chug and Mercy were at it again. Mercy by herself was no problem. She was the sweetest little girl alive. Even the hard life on the street wasn't enough to dampen her sense of sympathy. There was actually one instance where Mercy would not kill a monster because "It might hurt them."

The combination of Chug and Mercy was the problem. Chug was audacious and bold, to the point of arrogance and rudeness. Chug constantly teased Mercy over her pacifism, and tormented her at every chance. There was rarely a day where Teah didn't feel like strangling him, but she put up with him because Chug was nine and had a (miniscule) chance of improvement.

Teah resigned to watch what the argument was about this time for a second before acting. Usually it was something trivial, like tripping Mercy, or stealing one of her scarce possessions, but every once in a while he would do something serious, like hit her, publically humiliate her, or otherwise hurt her health.

"Give it back!" Mercy was demanding, a plea somewhere in there.

"Hmm…" Chug smiled cruelly, a steel fixture on his face that was tempered by years on the street, "Let's see what this entry is…" He began to read out of a pink book with swirly doodles on the front, "Dear Diary,"

Teah cut him off here. There was a fog of red anger clouding her normally clear thinking. She knew what it was like to be hurt by something like that, your own thoughts turned against you like a traitorous army, detailing exactly how you feel in ways you could never say, piercing you like bullets when they were spoken out loud.

"Give her the diary back, chug," Teah put on her _I swear to the gods if you argue with me I will kill you in a way so painful no one dare speak it _face.

Chug's confident demeanor wavered like a hologram with a bad connection for a second before he fixed the glitch.

"But Teah," He mock whined, "I'm just getting to the good part."

"Give it back to Mercy, Chug," Major appeared out of the shadows of the alley behind them, much like Nico, but somehow more commanding, more… Teah didn't know the word.

Chug reluctantly handed the pink book back to Mercy, who clasped it to her delicate frame like it was the only thing that kept her from shattering like a fingernail clam shell. She scurried away; seeming like her dark hair would catch on the wind and drag her away, back to her home in Mexico.

Once Mercy was out of sight, Major turned to Chug.

"What do you think you're doing?" Major's calm anger blazed like a cold fire, and Chug was wilting under the strain.

"She doesn't do anything!" Chug exclaimed, mustering all his defiance for a simple thought, "While the rest of us are off fighting the monsters that would kill us, she just sits there writing in her stupid diary! Since that's all she does, I figured I'd see what she's thinking while she is being Lazy! SHE SHOULD GO!"

"That isn't for you to decide!" Major bit back at Chug, "The people who do decide that say she does enough to stay."

Teah took this as the time to chime in, "She cleans, she works as a nurse and it is thanks to her that half the people here are still alive," Teah couldn't help but blurt out, "Even you."

Major opened his mouth to say something but he was cut off by a familiar voice calling "God alert! There is one Lord Apollo to see Teah What-ever-your-last-name-is!"

_He can't just say come here Teah_ she thought to herself as she sheathed her Kopis.

Her Kopis was a slightly curved traditional Greek sword. It wasn't quite crescent moon shaped like an Egyptian kopesh but the curve was harsher than a katana's. The metal was regal silver of the same type used by the Hunters of Artemis, and it had a leather ringed grip, about eight inches long, to the sword's overall three feet.

Teah arrived at the dead end alley they used for meetings where she found a good looking guy. Not good looking, more of a… _I am the hottest guy you have ever seen in your whole life with no contest._ Yup, just about.

Teah bowed deeply, and she heard the clank of armor as behind her Major did the same. Teah mentally sighed when she heard the sound. Major treated her like she was a glass sculpture. He treated her like she was something beautiful and delicate, even though she was neither.

Apollo gave her a knowing smile as irritation passed over her features like a hand through an Iris Message before disappearing again.

"Teah! You look so much like your mother… but you've got your grandfather's eyes," Apollo said when she had unbent from her bow.

Teah looked at him in obvious confusion, not really getting who Apollo was talking about. How did he know her mother? Teah had no clue. Then again, she didn't even know who her mother was.

"Lord Apollo?" Teah looked into the god's brilliant blue eyes, and tried not to faint.

"Yeah, that's me. How did you know," Apollo smirked, "Anyways, I hear you're bored of this place."

Teah chuckled, a bit nervously. She could feel Major's gaze on her back, "Where did you hear that?" She squeaked.

"Around," He made a waving gesture with her hand, "But that is, and isn't, why I'm here."

Teah gave him a questioning glance.

He explained, "I have a quest I'd like you to undertake. Over in England, they have one of my artifacts. It's someplace I'm forbidden to go to, but if it wasn't, I'd do it myself. I need you to get it for me. I'll give you a reward, too, so it isn't just some thankless quest."

"Reward?" Teah asked, with her curiosity now peaked. She knew that the gods usually expected you to just do what they tell you to, so a reward is rare

"I'm not exactly sure what I'll give you yet, but there will be something. And you'll need some help. Previously arranged help, so if you accept, I'll send you to get them," Apollo looked like he was ticking things off on his fingers, making sure he got everything, "Once you get them, you'll be transported to the next one. When you have all of your companions, I'll give you your next step. Do you accept?"

Teah was surprised how fast he got to the question. She didn't know. Didn't she JUST tell Major she wouldn't leave?

Speaking of Major, she could feel his eyes on her back. They seemed to dare her to accept. She wanted to accept. She really did. She was tired of playing mom to Mercy and Chug, and she was tired of Major's protectiveness, and there wasn't anything that really could stop her. But at the same time… she had obligations here. Mercy and Chug needed a mom. And Major needed a lieutenant.

"I," Teah stuttered, "I…"

**~~~~~~~~~~Tildes are fun. You know what else is fun? Cliffhangers. ~~~~~~~~~~~**

Corey was having fun. Of course, she had been having fun for the past two weeks. No one seemed to question her odd dress, nor did she question theirs, because she didn't even really notice what was going on around her. She was caught in the rapid tide of new games, and new cards, slides and bungee jumping and things called T.V.s.

She had only gotten upset twice in her whole time here, the first time, when her best friend left. They had had such fun together. He had been there longer than she had, by maybe a week, but he knew the hotel so well. Corianna and Nico would scramble around, playing pranks on Corey's mother and Nico's sister, Bianca.

But then Nico left. A tall, scary man had come and taken Nico and Bianca, because it was time for them to go. Corey didn't know what she had expected. It was a hotel; she knew that they wouldn't stay forever. But on some level, she couldn't help but hope that they would stay forever.

She would like to stay forever…


End file.
